Aggreko is a world-leading provider of mobile modular power, temperature control and energy services. Working at the forefront of a rapidly changing energy market, the company is focused on solving customers’ challenges to provide cost-effective, flexible and greener solutions across the globe. Aggreko harnesses innovation that helps maintain a global reach, and supplies portable equipment for a wide range of uses.

Since opening its first service centre in 2009, Aggreko has grown from a single depot to nine strategically located facilities in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban, Port Elizabeth, Walvis Bay, Dar es Salaam, Nairobi, Luanda and Lagos. The company is equipped with specialist engineers to understand the challenges you face.

The business specialises in renting equipment that it has been specifically designed and commissioned to be mobile and modular. This means it can be transported quickly using standard transportation methods, whether by land, sea or air, and scaled to the capacity needed.

The right equipment is critical for successful management of harvest demand. Climate and temperature control are crucial in the fermentation process – even the smallest fluctuation in temperate can have an adverse effect on your crop. If grapes warm up too much after picking, they start to ferment, which can ruin the flavour of the wine. Slow, controlled fermentation preserves the unique character of your wine.

Extra refrigeration capacity is often needed during the harvest season to snap-chill grapes, delay fermentation and keep tanks and vats cool. But why spend millions of rands on expensive refrigeration and temperature control equipment that’s only needed for at most four months of the year? Hiring instead of buying refrigeration and temperature control equipment frees up capital expenditure, resulting in a significant saving that allows producers to grow and invest in their business.

Renting provides the flexibility to manage fluctuations in business operations, and gives producers and wineries the capacity to handle yields that fluctuate with changing weather conditions. Aggreko’s flexible solutions are perfectly suited to the demands of seasonal and fluctuating crop processing.

Success in the land of the long white cloud

During the vintage season, an Aggreko customer (an award-winning winery) produces more than 20 000 tons of grapes that must be harvested.

During this intense three-week period, it is vital to have the right equipment and people on site when bringing in the grapes from 1 000 ha of vines.

Precise temperature control is crucial, but because this is only an issue for a short period annually, investing in a permanent cooling system isn’t cost effective. Aggreko installed a large chiller and pump for moving glycol through the cooling system. They are powered by a 500-kVA generator with a separate fuel cell to ensure it keeps going for long periods.

This gives the winery the extra capacity needed during the peak harvest season. Once the harvest is finished, Aggreko removes the chiller and the pump until the next vintage.

Aggreko draws together global expertise and technology development to assist customers. The ability to provide power, heating and cooling will continue to create opportunities. With Aggreko’s service centres, world-class equipment and highly-trained engineers, customers get exactly what they need. Fast.

One of their customers, owner and founder of Yealands Wine Group, Peter Yealands says: “The biggest issue on a single-site vineyard like ours is getting all your crop in, in a very short time … Having the right equipment and people is crucial when you’re going 24/7 continuously for three week. There’s a lot going on. There’s big power consumption, a lot of water use and trucking activity. It really is a hive of activity.”

Peter says that with Aggreko, he was able to utilise good hiring equipment to get him over that labour-intensive, three-week harvesting period. “Aggreko is one of the most professional contractors we have on site. They’re always here when you need them. It makes good sense to use hire equipment over the vintage period”, says Peter. “If I weren’t able to do that, I would have one million dollars tied up in equipment instead of using it to grow our business.”

“Being sustainable is about having the right resources at your disposal, and bringing in a temporary plant to get through the peak periods makes very good sense,” says Peter

Aggreko South Africa
0861 244 735
aggreko.com

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